October 26, 2005

WalMart Memo: Unhealthy People Need Not Apply and 46% of WalMart Employees’ Children Without Health Care or on Medicaid

“”An internal Wal-Mart memo, released by the New York Times this morning, exposes what a farce the last two days have been.   Wal-Mart’s CEO had the gall to come out this week and try to spin Wal-Mart as a company changing.  Wal-Mart is not a company trying to change.  Today’s memo proves Wal-Mart’s announcements are nothing more than a publicity stunt by exposing the truth behind Wal-Mart’s culture of greed and moral corruption.

The memo, authored by Susan Chambers, Executive Vice President for Benefits, robs Wal-Mart workers of their human dignity and instead treats them like products in their stores.   It is simply appalling that Wal-Mart’s senior management would actually write a memo suggesting not to hire certain workers because they may be unhealthy or obese.

Most startlingly, Wal-Mart, for the first time, admitted there is a Wal-Mart health care crisis in America.  The memo specifically states, ‘Wal-Mart has a significant percentage of associates and their children on public assistance.’  In fact, Wal-Mart revealed 46% of the children of Wal-Mart employees are either uninsured or on taxpayer funded public health care programs.  No wonder Wal-Mart so vehemently opposes legislators’ efforts to expose the truth about the true cost of the Wal-Mart economy.  It is inexcusable and unconscionable for a company, with $10 billion in profits, to know 1 out of every 2 of their employees’ children has no health care or is forced to rely on our public safety net and do nothing about it.

The key question becomes: What else does Wal-Mart know and when will they reveal it?   Wal-Mart’s great American deception of the past two days will not stand and Lee Scott ought to be ashamed of himself for perpetuating such a fraudulent image to the American people.””